After we hung up, Scott was still standing at the door waiting for me.

“Everything okay?” he asked.

“Yeah, the recruiter from the New York office called,” I said.

Scott had the nerve to look surprised and I was tempted to say something snarky back, but there was a room full of people.

I didn’t feel like things went well with the recruiter so immediately after the meeting, I updated my resume and started saving some jobs on job boards.

That evening, Kendra was able to sneak out of the house for a couple of hours to go to happy hour with me. I was kind of nervous to hear what she’d have to say about my announcement.

“Are you happy to have Brady home?” she asked.

“Mmhm,” I nodded. “He had such an amazing time and like, had some sort of revelation. He accepted a job in New York City.”

“Oh, really?” Kendra said, not sounding surprised in the slightest. “How do you feel about that?”

“Well, I’m going with him so,” I said.

“Oh. When’s that happening?” Kendra still didn’t seem fazed by any of the news.

“He’s going next weekend. I’ll probably join in three weeks. I still have things to do work wise,” I said.

She finally seemed to take me seriously. “Wait, are you serious? Why so sudden?”

“It’s when Brady’s new job needs him. He’s really excited. And I’m excited for him. Like he never does anything and now he is. And I’ll probably get to transfer with work so I’m really excited about that too. Like, to be able to work with a different team and stuff. The opportunities are endless.” I realized I was trying to justify myself so she wouldn’t judge me and tell me it was a bad idea.

“What did your mom say?” Kendra wanted to know.

“Nothing. She’s happy for me, obviously,” I said.

“That’s amazing, Reese. You guys don’t have anything stopping you so why not? I’m so jealous.” She looked like she might cry.

I actually felt relieved that Kendra approved. Once I had her approval, I excitedly told her more about our plan, how Brady would go first and scout out the apartments we’d bookmarked – one that allowed dogs because Tucker has to come with us, the potential jobs I’d looked at, the exact day I wanted to book my one way flight for, etc.

The next day, I expected the recruiter to call me at some point like she said she would. After lunch I decided to email her, just to get a rough time frame when she might call as I had a lot planned for the afternoon. This bitch never called that day and never emailed me back. I was really mad and started “one click” applying to random jobs on Indeed.com to retaliate.

On my way home, Brady texted me asking if I wanted to get drinks with him and coworkers. Obviously I did so I had the Uber reroute and drop me off at the bar.

I was surprised to find out that Brady hadn’t made it yet, but Sydney and others were there. Totally missed her!

“Hey, Reese,” she said when she saw me. She had her hair in two Kim Kardashian-style braids which for some reason annoyed me. “You look really cute. Did you wear that to work?”

I was wearing a basic black outfit and I could tell she was really trying to be nice so I decided to play nice back. We exchanged some niceties and I pretty much spaced out the entire time. Do y’all ever do that? Like I couldn’t tell you a single thing we talked about and we talked for probably fifteen minutes. Sorry, Syd. You’re boring.

Once Brady arrived, we all sat around a big table drinking beer and wine and things were super normal and fine. I was loving the fact that soon Sydney would be left behind in Chicago, never to be heard from again. Good riddance.

That is, until I heard her say something like, “I think I found an apartment in Williamsburg. It’s with a girl my cousin knows and the current roommate is moving out…”

I was thinking, “Wait. Where is Williamsburg?”

And then I fucking realized that Sydney is moving to New York also. Immediately after my groundbreaking realization, I stared at Brady for two minutes until he looked at me back. He gave me a weird look when he noticed me staring and I rolled my eyes and didn’t say anything the rest of the time.

In the Uber on our way home, I said, “When did you plan on telling me Sydney is moving to New York?”

Brady looked surprised, but then suddenly not surprised. “Babe, she got a job there too. It’s not a big deal.”

“But why didn’t you mention that? I was obviously really caught off guard when she suddenly started talking about moving to New York,” I said.

“I would have told you, but I didn’t think you cared about what Sydney is doing,” he said.

“I don’t, unless it involves me,” I said back, matter of factly. I could feel Brady’s rebuttal coming so I added, “And it does involve me because now she’s going to be around a lot in New York also.”

“She’s my friend. I don’t see how her being in New York is a problem. At least we have someone else to hang out with.”

As if I want to hang out with that little pest! Brady is so off base sometimes. I wanted to slap him.

I finally heard back from the recruiter the following Monday. By then I’d applied to so many jobs that I was excited about, I’d forgotten all about the sales manager job.

“I apologize for the delay. Things have been so crazy here!” she told me.

We proceeded with a few formal interview questions then she started being nosy and wanted to know why I was moving and where we’d be living and stuff.

Speaking of which, Brady and I have it narrowed down to a few housing options.

1. A vintage townhouse in Greenwich Village.
2. A loft in West Village.
3. A 3 bed/2 bath mansion in Soho.

Brady is going to check them out this week while I send him additional options because there are so many amazing places and I am indecisive.

On Friday, the movers Brady hired came and packed up most of our shit. So I’m staying with Lexi for two weeks. I feel like refugee. Last night we went out for drinks and as expected, she got totally trashed. I was up until 3am babysitting her. In fact, I had only been asleep for 45 minutes when Brady texted me to say good morning. He started his new job today. I literally never thought Brady would start a new job. This is weird.

I’m sorry, I have to go. I’ll try to post again later this week. I’m busy with work, looking at apartments + jobs, planning a dinner for my birthday + going away and selling some of my things. Bye!

“Yes! And to make matters worse, I was sitting next to Lexi when she called and the bitch totally saw me. She probably thinks I set the whole thing up!”

Preston cackled.

“What luck you have, baby doll!” he shouted.

“Like, I can understand how it’s kind of funny, but it’s not funny to me yet!” I said.

“Did she say anything to you?” Preston asked.

“I don’t know. I got a text from Hunter later, but I deleted it before I opened it,” I said.

“Wait, you didn’t tell me that,” Lexi cut in.

I ignored her. “So now I don’t know if I should address the issue or just pretend it didn’t happen.”

“Pretend it didn’t happen. Don’t admit guilt,” Preston said. Lexi nodded. “‘FaceTime Hunter at 4am? Why would you ever do such a thing!’”

Two hours of cackling later, we were all happily drunk and on the verge of getting kicked out of the restaurant. Lexi wanted to take our party elsewhere, but I really needed to do the sixteen piles of laundry I had all over the floor and go grocery shopping to prepare for Brady’s arrival.

I got in the house and sang, “Tucker! Come here you snickerdoodle, so I can take you outside for a potty.”

He didn’t immediately come running so I called out again, using Scott’s British/Australian accent. “Tucker, my boy, come to mummy so we can go to the loo.”

Tucker came strutting around the corner looking super proud that he was with his daddy. Brady was home.

“Ah! I wasn’t expecting you until later!” I said. He looked so fucking good in his crew neck and glasses and shorts and haircut.

“Thought I’d surprise you,” Brady said. He came and hugged me and that’s when it hit me that he was actually home.

We went to the bedroom and Brady started unloading his suitcases, throwing clothes into the colorized piles for laundry. He was telling me about everything he did, the trails he hiked and what he ate. I had so many questions.

Mostly things like, “Who all was there?” and “Was she pretty?” and “Did you take your shirt off? Who were you trying to show off for?”

I was being a little bit annoying, but Brady missed me and loved it. Again, it was so nice to see Brady excited about something and so excited to tell me about his trip. I loved that he was so enthusiastic to tell me stuff especially because usually things are all about me and not about Brady.

Later that evening, after lots of catching up and sobering up and hooking up and tidying up, we showered and got ready to go out for dinner. I was so amped that I had a date and was hitting the town with my hot man that I needed to dress accordingly. I put on a beautiful Alice + Olivia mini dress, clear heels (sorry) and red lipstick.

I’d forgotten about Brady saying he had stuff to tell me mostly because I thought we’d covered everything. But after we finished a whole bottle of wine at dinner, Brady had more to say.

“So I think you’re really going to like this,” he said.

I took a break from my gnocchi to look at him.

“I was offered a position in New York. I really want to take it.”

I just blinked, feeling my heart sinking. Brady was leaving me again.

“One of my old professors reached out to me and-” I spaced out, the feeling of betrayal taking over. “I want you to come with me.”

“I thought you hated New York,” I blurted out.

Brady smiled. “I don’t love it. But being in Peru made me want to do a little more career wise and I do think this is the move I want to make.”

I didn’t say anything, but I must have looked sad because he said, “I want you to come, Reese. I know this seems random and you should probably have a think about it, but-”

“Of course I’m coming, but you’re right. It is super random.”

“Um, I need to be there by the 27th so I plan on being there the weekend before. I still have a lot to figure out…”

“Of this month?” I exclaimed.

“Yes. I am going to stay in my aunt’s apartment until I find a place which I hope to do soon after getting there,” Brady explained.

“What!? And what are you going to do about your house?” I continued exclaiming, shocked that Brady was being impulsive.

“Probably rent it out. Alex knows some people who are looking to move. I don’t want to sell yet – it’s not the right market.”

“Oh my gosh, you’ve really thought about this,” I realized.

“Well yeah. I wanted to make sure it was feasible before coming to a decision,” Brady said.

I was quiet for a moment, processing everything. I don’t have a job lined up in New York, but my company has an office there. I don’t have an apartment lease to worry about and my bigger furniture is in storage anyway. Like, it could totally work.

“You don’t have to decide now if you want to come. I just thought you’d be excited.”

“Oh, I’m coming,” I let him know. There was no way Brady was moving halfway across the country – to my favorite city – without me.

It’s so funny how things change. Do y’all remember when Brady got that offer in New York a couple years ago and he was so against it and there was all this drama? What a nightmare.

The rest of the night was so much fucking fun. We were happy to be back together and excited for New York. Brady told me more about what he’d be doing and who he would be working with and how he’d have to travel to Connecticut like twice a month. I’m so happy for him for taking a leap of faith and doing more of what he wants. You only live once and shit.

At the end of the night I asked, “So are there any pregnant girls in Peru I need to worry about?”

I’d decided in my head that I was 100% going to New York with Brady before I even sat down and thought about the logistics of it all.

On Monday morning, I cornered Scott to let him know what was going on.

“Well, nothing really,” Scott shrugged. “I’m not sure what openings we have in New York, but let me do some research.”

Later in the day, Scott texted me, “We only have sales jobs in New York at the moment. Is that the route you want to go down?”

His text seemed condescending so I decided to do my own research and reach out to Keri in HR. She let me know that there was a sales manager position open. Technically it is sales, but Scott was obviously being petty by not at least telling me about it.

I reached out to recruiting, introduced myself and threw my name in the hat. Thanks for literally nothing, Scott.

Brady and I have been looking at apartments nonstop this week. Surprisingly he is the one being super particular and picky. If I had a dollar for every time he said, “Yeah, that kitchen is not going to work,” I’d have like $18. We have it narrowed down to about five.

Anyway, I know this seems rushed and y’all are probably wondering the same thing Brady keeps asking: “Are you sure you want to do this?”

I think the more important question is, is Brady sure he wants to do this? I’ve been ready.

Over the weekend, Lexi invited me out. I haven’t hung out with Lexi in a while. She got scouted for some reality show and was really invested in that. Like, girl. Everyone gets scouted for reality shows in Chicago. Relax.

Anyway, so I hadn’t seen her in a while and she wanted to get dinner and drinks. Is it ever just dinner and drinks with Lexi?

No.

We decided to get dinner at cute Italian restaurant in West Loop. I wore a romper, mules and hoop earrings with my hair in a bun.

“I can’t wait to tell you about this guy I’m seeing,” Lexi said as we sat down at the table.

“I’m dying to hear,” I deadpanned, but I was actually excited to hear about literally anything because my life lately has been so actionless.

“His name is Andy. It’s so funny, we met in line at Starbucks,” she said.

“What was he ordering?” I had to know.

“A grande black coffee and an oatmeal. Isn’t that so cute?”

“Adorable.”

“Anyway, so we ended up hooking up that weekend and-”

“Wait, how do we go from the Starbucks line to your bedroom?”

Lexi giggled. “I don’t know.”

I just looked at her.

“Anyway, he’s really cute though. Like very cute. This was two weeks ago and I’ve been sleeping over almost every night. We took a cooking class together yesterday and he invited me to a wedding this weekend. I can totally see why Ariana Grande and Pete Davidson got engaged after a month,” she said.

“Lexi!” I exclaimed, realizing she was being irrational.

“I know, I know! I’m still kind of upset about the Hunter thing,” she said.

I guess when Hunter was last here, he finally told Lexi that he just wanted to have fun and that he cared about her, but didn’t want anything serious, blah blah blah. She really didn’t like that.

“I really do like him though. I want you to meet him tonight,” Lexi said.

“I’m willing to meet him,” I told her.

After dinner, we headed next door to a pretend dive bar. It’s one of those bars that is made to look like a dive bar, but is actually super upscale and nice inside. And definitely not your typical dive bar clientele.

Lexi got us fucking Moscow Mules and we sat at the bar people watching. I was really loving seeing who was with who, what people were wearing, etc. Suddenly, Lexi screamed into her phone.

“What is wrong with you?” I demanded, mad that she startled me.

“Andy is not fucking coming. He also claims he isn’t going to that wedding,” she said. “He’s saying that because he doesn’t want me to go with him anymore.”

I rolled my eyes. “Relax, you don’t know that. And even if that is the case, you’ve known him for two weeks. Who cares?”

Lexi got that crazy look in her eye – a look that told me it was going to be a long night.

“Two shots of tequila, please,” she told the bartender.

A couple hours later, we were in another dark bar and Lexi was grinding on some guy. No one else was dancing, but Lexi and I were trashed. I was chatting with this super cute girl who just so happens to be a model. She just moved to Chicago with her boyfriend and needed friends of her own. She was also very drunk.

“Let’s totally exchange numbers. I’ll show you around the city,” I told her.

We exchanged numbers and made plans to hang out the next weekend. Her name was Courtney.

Just before 3am, Lexi and I headed back to her apartment with a whole pizza to consume. I fucking love pizza. I was sitting at Lexi’s little bar area, making love to my slice of cheese pizza when I realized Lexi wasn’t even eating with me.

“Bitch, get over here and eat,” I called.

“I’m trying to call Hunter,” she said back.

Ugh, I thought to myself as I grabbed my pizza and joined her on the living room floor. I saw that she was repeatedly trying to FaceTime Hunter and he wasn’t picking up. It was actually comical and totally a page out of my book.

“I’m sure he’s sleeping. He has like a family, you know?” I said.

Lexi continued calling.

Y’all, I was sitting there next to Lexi, finishing up the crust of my pizza when the FaceTime was finally answered. And it was not Hunter.

Dom picked up the phone. I should’ve fucking known that was going to happen. How didn’t I know? She appeared on the screen, lit up creepily by a small lamp or candle. It took me a moment to process that it was her and that she could clearly see me. I made a weird noise and then dove to the floor.

“How can we help you?” I heard Dom ask.

I was shaking my head furiously, mouthing for Lexi to hang up.

“Where is Hunter?” she asked instead.

I completely wanted to die.

“Why are you calling my husband at this time of night? What do you want with him?” Dom said.

Lexi rolled her eyes like she couldn’t be bothered with the questions. And then she finally hung up.

“Holy fuck, this is messy. I’m going to die,” I said.

“She’s not that cute,” Lexi said.

The next morning, I woke up in bed with Tucker. I hadn’t checked my phone in a while, but I saw that I had a text from Hunter. I didn’t open it, but saw that the first line said, “Reese, I just want to…” I immediately deleted it. I didn’t want to see it.

It’s unclear if the message was actually from Hunter or from Dom when she hijacked his phone, but either way, I was not interested. I didn’t want to know if Dom had actually seen me and recognized me and was scolding me. I also didn’t want to know if she’d gone back and told Hunter that Lexi and I were FaceTiming him in the middle of the night. I haven’t heard from either of them since.

I literally want to vomit every time I think of that night – Dom picking up the phone and her seeing me. I don’t even know how I can explain myself. Even the truth sucks – Hunter was cheating on her with my friend and I knew and was okay with it. What if it gets back to Brady? What if she spins things and makes it seem like I was the one FaceTiming Hunter at 2am? What if it gets back to their parents that I’m hooking up with both brothers? I can already see how this is all going to play out.

Anyway, Brady is coming home tomorrow and the place is a shit show so Kendra is coming over to help me clean. I’ll talk to y’all later.